Power management in a computer system may be controlled by placing components of the system in various power states to achieve a desired target power consumption range. In some cases, it may be desirable to reduce power in a computer system of component thereof as much as possible while minimizing the delay with which the computer or component can handle workloads. In some prior art, a component or system can be placed in a low-power state, but then may need to return to a higher power state relatively soon thereafter to perform a task. If the component or system is placed in too low of power state, it may not be able to return from the power state to service a task within a desired amount of time. However, if the component is not placed in the low power state, it may consume unnecessary power, since it's difficult to know ahead of time when the component or system will need to return from the low power state.
As a result, some prior art power management techniques may either consume unnecessary power by not placing components or a system in a low power state, when appropriate to do so. Conversely, some prior art power management techniques may result in low component or system performance by not returning from a low power state fast enough to perform a task within a desired amount of time.